"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
Here come old flat top
He come groovin' up slowly
He got ju-ju eyeball
He one holy roller
He got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker
He just do what he please
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
He wear no shoeshine
He got toe jam football
He got monkey finger
He shoot Coca-Cola
He say I know you, you know me
One thing I can tell you is
You got to be free
Come together, right now
Over me
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
He bag production
He got walrus gumboot
He got Ono sideboard
He one spinal cracker
He got feet down below his knee
Hold you in his armchair
You can feel his disease
Come together, right now
Over me
Shoot me
Right
Come, come, come, come, come
He roller coaster
He got early warning
He got muddy water
He one mojo filter
He say one and one and one is three
Got to be good looking
'Cause he's so hard to see
Come together right now
Over me
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
Uh
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Uh
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
Here come old flat top
He come groovin' up slowly
He got ju-ju eyeball
He one holy roller
He got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker
He just do what he please
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
He wear no shoeshine
He got toe jam football
He got monkey finger
He shoot Coca-Cola
He say I know you, you know me
One thing I can tell you is
You got to be free
Come together, right now
Over me
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
He bag production
He got walrus gumboot
He got Ono sideboard
He one spinal cracker
He got feet down below his knee
Hold you in his armchair
You can feel his disease
Come together, right now
Over me
Shoot me
Right
Come, come, come, come, come
He roller coaster
He got early warning
He got muddy water
He one mojo filter
He say one and one and one is three
Got to be good looking
'Cause he's so hard to see
Come together right now
Over me
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
Uh
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Uh
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
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Fast Car
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"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
I BELIEVE THIS SONG REFERS TO THE BEATLES AS A WHOLE,THE FIRST LINE IS ABOUT RINGO,THE SECOND ABOUT GEORGE-THE MAN MIGHT I ADD,THE THIRD ABOUT JOHN AND THE FOURTH ABOUT PAUL11 AND MUST I REMIND ALL OF YOU JOHN IS NOT THE ONLY BEATLE!!!
Man, I am really digging this interpretation. It really makes sense, man. Peace.
I thought the same thing as you did, that each verse was a reference to each Beatle. But I thought verse one was George, 2 = Paul, 3= John, and 4= Ringo.<br /> This is why I thought this:<br /> George was the most religious, so calling someone a holy roller was slang back then (still is for that)<br /> George usually had the longest hair and was the first to grow it out longer that the mop top.<br /> George seemed to have one eye a little more droopy than the other.<br /> Joker - I don't know what that is about.<br /> <br /> Paul - toe jam from the barefoot picture. Football is a big joint and we know how Paul would like to light it up. Coca-cola- Paul admitted to the media to using drugs other than just weed. Monkey finger might be a reference to his ability to play nearly any instrument. (monkey see monkey do) Quoting him poeticey would mean he speaks out, he has something to say as in lyrics like a song writer does. Paul wrote lyrics or poems that became songs.<br /> <br /> John - the Ono on the side comment (John had been married to someone else). He once said that he told everyone Paul was the Walrus to further confuse them. Does that mean John is really the Walrus? He wrote a song stating "I am the Walrus".<br /> Perhaps he had a scruffy armchair they all made fun of that they teased you could get a disease by sitting in it - that is just a guess because he had a funny sense of humor.<br /> <br /> Ringo - he is a roller coaster (mood swings). He got early warning -you can easily tell when his moods are switching. He got muddy water - Muddy Waters was a blues musician. Maybe he liked that music or maybe it refers back to his moods again (being blue)<br /> He say 1 + 1 + 1 is 3. Would mean that he is the drummer and he keeps time (or the count) for the<br /> band. Has to be good looking (which he is) because you can hardly see him way in the back of the band behind everyone else.<br /> <br /> <br />
agreed<3
Yeowza, that is AMAZING!!!!
holy cow. i think you're on to something
I totally agree with Yeowza. That is an amazing interpretation and it has changed my view on the song entirely.<br /> But with Ringo, how it says 'he got early warning', Ringo was initially the first Beatle to leave the group, but he did return 10 days later. Maybe its referring to the fact that he could see what was going to come (The breakup and the tension between John and Paul etc.) and he wanted to get out first to avoid any of that.
Yeowza - I am in total agreement with you. That was an incrediable interpretation. I never knew what to make of this song. I always knew it was one of my favourites, but I never had any idea what on earth he was on about. What you've said here makes an awful lot of sense. <br /> <br /> Really great interpretation and like Pshh said, it has totally changed how I listen to the song.
Also, when all these verses "Come Together," they make the Beatles. Fantastic interp. ;]
dude, yeah. you've got it. but maybe line two is Paul.. but then four doesn't seem like George..
The last verse is about Paul. John thought Paul was not deep intellectually and wrote silly songs w/ no depth (one and one and one is three, is John's mocking Paul's song writing). The telltale clue is the line "got to be good looking cuz he's so hard to see." Paul was considered the best looking Beatle, but since his songwriting was so devoid of meaning, he had to get by on his looks. It is pretty scathing. I wonder if this was John's little secret, or if the other Beatles were in on it?? If you don't believe John's disdain for Paul, listen to "How do you Sleep?" My favorite Lennon lyric of all time: "Them freaks were right when they said you were dead...the only thing you got is in your head. Oooooh, how do you sleep at night?"
Yeah, Yeowza I think you're totally right except that I think you got Paul and Ringo mixed up. Ringo is verse 2 and Paul is verse 4. But aye now it makes sense!